


True Love was Never Easy

by Operation_Light_Swan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 05:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12052182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Operation_Light_Swan/pseuds/Operation_Light_Swan
Summary: A selection of one shots of Emma and Killian's Love.





	1. Wake Up Call

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine your OT3 where Person A and Person B are in bed together and whatever they’re doing is interrupted by Person C vacuuming right outside the door.
> 
> Please leave requests <3

Emma truly hadn’t been this happy since, well, ever. Every day she awoke with strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her from problems just waiting to creep upon her. Here, in her husband’s arms, she was safe and loved. When Emma had met Killian, she had seen him as a guarded man, whose walls were as high as her own, if not higher. And as the years passed by, they slowly pulled down those walls together, brick by brick, exposing themselves to each other, loving each other. Emma loved Killian more than she could put into words, more than she could express through gestures and she sometimes wondered if he would ever know how much she loved him. She knew she wasn’t good at telling him those three special words, old habits were always hard to break, yet she tried so hard to make sure she knew how important he was. He was her saviour.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by feather-light kisses being placed upon her shoulders and neck. The arms around her waist pulled her closer to the firm, yet warm, body behind her and she relaxed into his hold. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned her head slightly to say good morning to the person who had been on her mind only moments ago. Before she could register what was happening, she felt his soft lips placed against her own in a gentle kiss of love. Emma’s instincts kicked in instantly, reacting to his kiss and turning within his arms to savour the heat. As their legs intertwined once again, Killian drew his head back, making Emma whine at the loss of his lips. The moonlight shone through their make-shift curtains of their room and illuminated their mattress on the floor. Their house was new and they had yet to move any furniture in, but they couldn’t wait any longer to christen every surface possible.  
“Good Morning, Princess” Killian whispered, his voice still waking up. He placed his forehead against her own and nuzzled her nose with his. The simple gesture made Emma’s heart fall just a little further as it did every day. Even when she thought she couldn’t love this man anymore, he always found a way. She watched him, the way his eyes refused to stay open, no matter how hard he tried not to fall back to sleep, the way his lips were slightly parted and she could hear the little puffs of air escaping and how his messy bed-hair still looked better than some men could style theirs with gel.  
“I hate to break it to you, but it isn’t morning quite yet. It’s about 2:40, Killy” Emma whispered to him, feeling remorseful that she had awoken him from his slumber by her movements. She snuggled further into his heat after pulling the blankets higher up her body.  
“That’s still the morning, Emma. Just early than I would’ve liked” Killian smirked, “but I’ll never say no to a 2 am treat” He winked and Emma’s cheeks flushed pink. He noticed this and his expression became serious. “Emma, love, I’m kidding. However, I must question, why you are awake at such a time as this” he questioned softly. His hand found its way to her cheek and he brushed her hair out of her face slowly, revealing her emerald eyes to him.  
“I couldn’t sleep” Emma revealed, not wanting to tell him the real reason she had been awake. He didn’t need to know that she was questioning whether her life was real or not, or that some of her old childhood fears still hadn’t left. He would think that she didn’t trust him or that she wanted him to leave, or even that all of his efforts to make sure she never felt alone wasn’t enough. She couldn’t do that to him. He spoke suddenly, making Emma feel embarrassed for staring at him for too long.  
“Emma, that’s not the real reason, is it?” his voice laced with concern. Killian wanted to know all of Emma’s fears and help her work through them because, at one time, he felt the same. He held her tighter and placed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Emma, you can tell me.” Emma looked at him and pondered for a minute, he wouldn’t leave her, he never would.  
“I just, want to get rid of all these fears that creep in whenever I’m truly happy. They haunt me and I hate it. I couldn’t even let myself love you because every thought in my body told me you would just leave like everyone else, yet here I am, in your arms every morning because you won’t leave me” She explained her voice full of emotion as she gazed into Killian’s eyes. Killian couldn’t help but steal another kiss from her pink lips. It was his way of comforting her. Emma tucked her head into his neck and lightly kissed any part of skin exposed to her without having to move. Killian pulled the covers over them again and turned so he was lying on his back, with Emma nestled into the side of him.  
“I love you, Emma”  
“I love you too, Killian”  
Killian felt whole with Emma. She made him the man he had wanted to be since his brother died. He changed for her and he had never felt so damn happy in his life. He got to wake up to her beautiful face every morning and got to kiss her goodnight before pulling her tightly into his embrace and fall asleep knowing she was safe. He knew he didn’t deserve her love, yet he thanked the gods every day that this woman chose to love and treasure him and he would do the same for her until the day he died. Killian had promised himself that he wouldn’t let Emma ever feel alone, no matter what. It was then he realised that Emma’s breathing had once again slowed and she was peaceful sleeping, curled into his side. He wrapped his arms around her once again before dozing off once more.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When he woke again, the sun was shining through the curtains, forcing him to squint as he looked down. There, still in his arms was his wife who was sleeping peacefully. Killian continued to stare at Emma until he glanced at the clock over her head, almost gasping at the time. 11:32! That was much later than he had ever slept, excluding mornings after a night full of ‘enjoyable activities’. He realised too late that his gasp had woken Emma, and she became restless in his arms. Killian felt terrible as it wasn’t often that Emma slept so late due to being plagued by nightmares and the constant job of saving the town, but he knew that it was already late in the day and they both had jobs to do.  
When her eyes lids finally fluttered open, Killian couldn’t help but stare into her eyes, once again thanking any god who would listen. He couldn’t control himself as he leant forward and fiercely captured her lips with his own. She let out a small moan and the sudden action and Killian took this opportunity to explore her mouth with his tongue. Emma loved his possessiveness and his fierce love. He always weakened her knees and made her fall for him even further.  
Killian deepened the kiss and rolled Emma onto her back as his kissed down her neck, slowly dragging his hand across her body, stopping at her chest. Emma moaned loudly as he nipped at the sensitive spot on her neck and his hook found the bottom of her pyjama top, slowly lifting it over her head to expose him all to her.  
The door suddenly burst open and the sound of a running Hoover came through. David walked in after, humming as he cleaned the floor, a slight smirk on his face. That was until he looked across the floor to Emma and Killian in their compromising position. Killian quickly threw the duvet over Emma, hiding her bare skin from her father, before burying his face in her neck, groaning in frustration. David’s face had turned three shades lighter as he stared at the couple, unable to tear his eyes away from the shock.  
“Dad!” Emma exclaimed loudly, obviously embarrassed that she was caught in such a position with Killian. “What the hell are you doing here?!”  
“You said I could come round whenever I wanted to cook you pancakes! I decided the day after you move in was a goo.. oh. Now looking back on it, it was the worst day to come.” David managed to get out before realising his big mistake.  
“Yeah, mate, it was” Killian grumbled from his hiding spot, clearly annoyed.  
“I’ll leave you two to do… whatever it was you were doing” David said, before quickly rushing out the room, slamming the door behind him. Emma held her breath until the front door shut. She laughed when she breathed again and Killian was less than amused.  
“It isn’t funny, love. Your father completely ruined the mood”  
“Well at least he didn’t drag your arse out of bed to punch for touching his little girl, so think of it as a sign of approval,” Emma said, threading her fingers through his hair.  
“Thanks for trying to lighten the mood love, but it won’t work” Emma laughed at Killian’s attitude towards their interruption, but she placed a kiss on his lips before dragging herself out of bed to get ready for the day, before facing her father once again.


	2. Working Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Person A lets person C off of work for a few month to deal with their new baby. Person A finds Person B asleep on the couch of the work place after A worked for too many hours.

Working late into the night was what Emma did. And no, it was not good for her, but she powered on through the twenty-four-hour shifts she took on. And in ways, this was good- but not when Emma slept for only a couple of hours before taking on another twenty-four-hour shift. No one actually knew about these ridiculous times she spent at the station; she had told everyone that Killian was doing the second shift, not her and no one questioned her further. Killian did help out on one of the shifts, but Emma always told him to head home about half an hour before she should have left so he never knew about it either.  
The reason Emma took on so much was so David, her father could have a lot of time with Neal so he could watch him grow up. David jumped at the chance to spend more time with Neal, but this only made Emma feel the need to isolate her more. Maybe he didn’t want to spend time with her. Maybe Neal was her replacement and all there regrets of not being there for Emma to grow up, went out the window and they started fresh, disowning her. At least she had Killian.  
But as the months dragged on, still no one had any idea of her long, unnecessary shifts, but it gave her time to wallow in pity and shame. Wasn’t she good enough for them now? It didn’t matter to her- well…it did. It really did; she had to grow to live with it though as all their love had been stolen by her little sibling. Her parents scarcely made any contact with her and when they did, it was to look after Neal for the evening so they could do something together. When they returned, she excused herself as quickly as she could, claiming she had to do something.  
Killian noticed this; she was drawing away from people, avoiding them and her walls were slowly, yet surely climbing back up. So when he slyly waited outside for Emma to finish her shift, he was alarmed when she never appeared from her isolation. He continued to wait for a while, presuming she had to complete a task, but an hour passed. Silently, he crept inside and slowly emerged into the now darkened room and there before he was his precious Emma, huddled up in a fragile position upon the couch, the blanket tucked tightly under her chin, her baby blanket clutched in her white fists.   
Only when he became closer did her notice the penetrating red that surrounded her eyes and the dried tears decorating her flustered cheeks. Instant regret and sadness filled his entire being. He had promised to look out for her every day of their lives, and he did. He really did- but how did he miss this. In the second he saw her, he knew that what she was crying about was the thing pushing her away from his love for her.  
Scooping her up in his strong arms, he held her guarded and close as she stirred in her uncomfortable sleep. He trudged out the door, in the bitter cold and struggled back to Emma’s house. Once they arrived, he placed her on her bed, tucking her up once again. Standing there, he made the split second decision to stay with her. He stripped down to his dress shirt and underpants and climbed in beside his sleeping swan, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, drawing her closer. He buried his nose in her hair, placing a light kiss on her scalp, soon succumbing to the burden of sleep as well.  
Only when the sun penetrated to room in the later hours of the morning, did Killian rise to see his sleeping swan still cuddled up in his arms, one arm draping over his chest and a small smile graced across her face in her mindless form. Tightening his grip around her and gathered her further into his warmth was when her thick eyelashes fluttered open and met his crystal eyes. An instant look of worry flooded her face as she saw him and her secret was revealed.  
“Good Morning, Love” Killian whispered softly into her hair as if nothing had ever happened. For a while, Emma thought that maybe she’d made her way back home in her sleep, but that thought was quickly interrupted when he confronted her. “So, darling, are you going to tell what you were doing crashing on the couch in the station?”  
“Oh- I got… tired and…. Um… had a... Rest?” she stuttered out, hoping that he wouldn’t see past the obvious lie from her mouth. Avoiding eye contact, she tried to make a run for it, pulling back the covers and jumping out of bed. But to her dismay, Killian hooked his hook around her wrist, tugging her back into his embrace.  
“Now then, Love. Are you going to tell me the truth or not?” Emma remained quiet and refused to make eye contact; she knew if she did that she’d instantly crack. “I have all day, love. And Emma,” he tucked his hook under her chin and angled her face so their eyes did meet, “you know I won’t judge you at any point, in any realm or time. I love you, Emma Swan. You can tell me anything.” By the end of Killian’s speech, she had tears running down her flustered face.  
“Well, erm… I wanted my da... David, to have as much time with Neal as possible and told him to take a couple of days off, and he jumped at that opportunity and it made me feel unworthy. It... it was like he didn’t even care for me and didn’t even put up a fight. And then a couple of days turned into a week and then into a couple of months and there’s been so much work to do I’ve have had to do twenty-four-hour shifts just to keep on top of it. There’s still so much to do and I, I can’t... Can’t cope anymore.” By the end, she was only just managing to stumble her words through her thick, constant tears that were streaming down her face like a violent waterfall.  
Killian held Emma close, whispering sweet little things into her ears and hair as she continued to whimper. “Listen, darling. I love you for being so kind and thoughtful and the most beautiful and perfect person on this planet. I know you’ve been hurt before but I’m so happy you’ve told me. I am sorry I didn’t notice before and from now on out I will help you with all the work and spend every moment of my living life helping you in every way I can-okay?”  
“Okay. I love you so much, Killian. Believe me- I don’t know what I’d do without you.”  
“Just as much as you mean to me, Emma. Before we go back, I have someone to talk to.”  
/  
“What the hell?” David shouted after Killian described Emma’s situation.   
“Yep- she didn’t think you loved her anymore. Thought Neal was her replacement and you had disowned her completely. And as much as I’d love to say it wasn’t all your fault- it really was.”  
“What?” Snow and David exclaimed simultaneously.  
“Well, when her dear old father doesn’t even process a thought about how much work there was and how little Emma could do by herself compared to two people. Did it even cross your mind that when you work, you actually spend time with Emma at work and when you said yes instantly it was like a punch in her gut? She thought you just wanted to get away from her and spend your every waking moment with Neal.”  
“David, we failed Emma. We made her think we didn’t love her or need her.” Snow said, sadness overtaking her already small voice.  
“Go talk to her. She needs you right now- not me. I’ve done all I can to comfort her but what she needs, is her parents.”


End file.
